Future of Warrnambool holiday parks under review on back of bumper summer

And, despite the parks taking a hit during summer when the outbreak of COVID-19 in the city caused cancellations, the council said the financial outlook was positive for both the facilities and tourism across the city.

The council said its Holiday Park Strategy would be put back on the agenda this year after other council businesses took priority during the pandemic.

A draft strategic plan for Surfside and Shipwreck holiday parks was scheduled to come before the new councillors in the first half of 2021, but as the second wave of the pandemic plunged the city back into lockdown, it was shelved temporarily.

But chief executive officer Peter Schneider said the council would now revisit the issue.

"Other priorities led to the deferral of the development of the Holiday Parks Strategy which will be progressed this year," he said.

The size of camp sites at council-run holiday parks was just one of the issues being reviewed as part of a long-term strategy for the future of the popular locations, and a trial was earmarked to be carried out at some stage.

The holiday parks have long been a financial boon for the council, drawing in profits of more than $1 million a year before COVID hit.

With hopes high that this summer could be the turnaround, an outbreak of COVID in the city saw a number of visitors to the park take up the council's offer of a refund.

More than 200 refunds were sought, but Mr Schneider said that amounted to only about 10 per cent of peak summer bookings being cancelled.

"Most of these were powered and unpowered sites as opposed to cabins which lessened the financial impact," he said.

Final numbers on the financial impact were still being calculated and would not be available until the end of the month, he said.

"In summary, given the uncertainty posed by COVID it has been a very positive summer for council's holiday parks and for the city's tourism sector overall," Mr Schneider said.

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